Grijalva on Zinke, restrained: “This is no kind of victory, but I’m hopeful that it is a genuine turning of the page. Secretary Zinke’s successor has a chance to move on from on an unfortunate Trump administration record of environmental mismanagement and decline."

Cannot-Make-It-Up Department. Interior Secretary under investigation for allegedly trying to enrich himself in office wouldn't leave job until he could have Christmas party with lobbyists and take pictures in front of stuffed polar bear https://t.co/SLfl8ZYtnl

I wouldn’t be shocked if Grijalva goes after his ass, the corruption was so incredibly in your face that even when (not if) the GOP says its a personal vendetta I doubt it will cut much slack when you consider the amount of disdain the Big Z showed to his job and charges…. Considering Grijalva’s district encompasses one national park (Saguaro) this district actually takes this shit seriously considering the amount of tourism dollars that are at stake and this guy seemed to take it as his duty to follow Trump’s example of personal enrichment above all other considerations.

@Yarrow: They do. Zinke was actually run out of the community, denied an O6/captain level command, because he pulled the same financial scams as a SEAL that he was pulling as Secretary of the Interior. O’Neill, another MAGA supporting former SEAL, wrote a book claiming he made the shot that killed bin Laden. Aside from the fact that two other SEALs on his team have claimed the shot, and he was never formally recognized as doing so, and without authorization, he wrote the book anyway. Which is a major no no in that community. He then went on TV and promoted it and himself. Also a big breach.

Ross is as smart, cold and calculating a conperson who don’t give a shit as you could ever find. I guess it could get awkward if all the lawsuits against him for defrauding his business partners and investors prevail, he gets wiped out, and they attach his salary to pay off the judgment. But Ross is richer than God so that is very unlikely to happen.

And Ross was boss of the Bank of Malta, I think, a clearing house for Russian money of all sorts, and the route through which much of it was steered into Trump coffers, IIRC. So, Trump can’t really mess with Ross.

Many haven’t hung around long enough to earn all the investigations that would have naturally occurred had they stayed longer. The Trump administration is just one endless parade of criminals. If asked to name the worst Trump official, I’m pretty sure the world’s most powerful supercomputer would explode trying to decide. It’s like trying to decide which is “bigger” — infinity or forever.

Grijalva’s hopes about the next Secretary of the Interior are just mandatory political verbiage. He’s got to say that, but expecting Trump to pick someone who isn’t a full-blown environmental plunderer is just silly. The odds are that Zincke’s successor will be as bad or worse.

@TriassicSands: I’m starting to wonder if these positions will ever get filled now. Nobody wants to be part of the growing mess that is the Trump Administration or expose themselves to possible inadvertant legal liability. What if he asks you to be part of some coverup? Or do something flagrantly illegal? Or you overhear some detail of inappropriate activity?

@CarolDuhart2: What if he asks you to be part of some coverup? Say, “No.” Or do something flagrantly illegal? Say, “No.” Or you overhear some detail of inappropriate activity? Report it to the Inspector General.

Easy peasy. This however is more problematic:

Nobody wants to be part of the growing mess that is the Trump Administration or expose themselves to possible inadvertant legal liability.

Because you just know some shit is coming down the pike that is going to open up whoever takes on the thankless job to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of legal liability.

@TriassicSands: That’s why I would not be surprised if current acting director of NPS, Daniel Smith, would be asked to step up to head DOI. He sandbagged one NPS ranger to let Redskins owner Snyder get away with cutting trees down on NPS land to have an unobstructed view of the Potomac River. And had to apologize for an obscene act shortly after being named acting director of NPS. He’d be the perfect Trump choice!

Barring that, it would go to a western Repub who just lost an election. Dean Heller, possibly, or Rosendale, who lost to Tester. McSally is jockeying for the other AZ senate seat. Kyl doesn’t have western land issues listed as an interest and probably wants to go back to lobbyist grifting. The #2 at DOI already has enough transgressions for a previous WaPo article so he’s a possibility.

It shows you how politically inept these guys are that they act as if they will always be the party in power. So it was like Zinke didn’t notice that Grijalva was the ranking member on that committee. You see it with the rest of them too, including Trump.

@trnc: As in the “Dish and Dishonesty” episode of Blackadder where Blackadder is helping Baldrick fill out the application to run for Parliament. “Oh come now, Baldrick, you’re running for Parliament! I’ll just put fraud and sexual deviancy.”

There was no indication from public information that he was involved with the company, and the headhunter did not mention it. I go into the interview and it is one of the first things mentioned, like it some glamorous thing everybody knew about. I had no idea who Wilbur Ross was, and had never heard of him. After determining that he was in deep with Cypriot banks I was obviously not too impressed with him, and they were shocked that I cared.

For context, this was just a couple years after the Cypriot bank account holders were forced to take a 40% haircut by the EU central bank in order for the banks to get a bailout. There was so much dirty money in the banks that the banks basically burned their KYC records, and could produce very little evidence that any real AML steps had been done.

Barring that, it would go to a western Repub who just lost an election.

Rumors seem to be it will be David Bernhardt, currently a deputy secretary and former lobbyist for oil, gas, and water companies. Bernhardt or someone similar is my fear: just as bad on policy, intimately familiar with how the rule-making process works, without Zinke’s grifting. Same thing is happening at EPA.

I thought Heller was a top choice but them I remembered that my sister in NV told me what a legacy hire idiot he is. Bernhardt makes the most sense because he’ll be a much more efficient at pillaging than loudmouth Zinky ever was

It seems like the first set of trump hires were for show for the base, and now we’re getting the ones who can actually do more harm faster. Maybe that’s the marching orders from Adelson, Mercers, etc.